The play the Crucible, by Arthur Miller was set in 17th century in the town of Salem. People in the town were very spiritual. Most of them believed in not only God, but also the devil. Additionally, they thought that witches existed and they thought that they were guided by the devil. there was often talk of witchcraft in Salem, especially in the weeks leading up to the story. There was already hysteria about witches in the town when a girl named Abigail was caught practicing witchcraft along with many other girls in the woods. Soon after things escalated and there became a full blown witch hunt in Salem. Abigail caused the trials, but not alone and that was only possible due to the already existing hysteria in the town. The Reverend in the town was named Reverend Parris. Like the rest of Salem, Parris also strongly believed in witchcraft. In the beginning of Act one he says, “A wide opinion running in the parish that the Devil may be among us ” (The Crucible 26). Many children were dying in the town and the people feared it was the devil. This shows that there was already suspicion of witchcraft in Salem prior to the girls staging. To satisfy the people’s fear, Parris invited Reverend hale, who was an expert in studying witchcraft, to Salem to investigate. Parris invited Reverend Hale before …show more content…
Their allegiance to Abigail made the staging of the attacking spirits much more believable. Therefore, when Abigail began accusing people, the rest of the girls jumped in and did the same. Judges were called to the town to hold a hearings for the accused witches. Abigail and her friends were the accusers and were there to testify. As soon as Abigail began acting like she was being attacked, all the girls immediately joined her. Although Betty may have taken the first step, Abigail was ultimately the leader in these accusations, and therefore the cause of the guilty